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ok, here's my idea, although I bet it's been thought of before, but how about creating a Real time, 3D, empire building totalwar-type ancient warfare simulator, not game.
The key to an addictive game is reality. This game will recreate Ancient life - populations / societies / cultures / warfare etc so the player "feels" they are actually in an ancient period.
In the past I've tried to create a tactical battle simulator (BlitzBasic) and even created a intro video for it, but I'm not very talented and found the task of just creating a tacitcal battle simulator very difficult. Here's a link to the Intro video, it's not very good.
http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=-5412068534556160236
What I need is people with similar ideas, preferably talented LOL!, OR maybe someone who could suggest a War Simulator Development Engine I could use. I found BlitzBasic good but I need a 4th / 5th generation language to reduce development time.
Thanks
Padlock,

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Original post by padlockok, here's my idea...I'm not very talented...(the) task of just creating a tacitcal battle simulator very difficult...(so) I need...people with similar ideas, preferably talented LOL!, OR a War Simulator Development Engine I could use...to reduce development time.

I'm truly not attempting to be rude or jest in this post.

Instead, I'm trying to point out how your post and conduct is perceived when I read this.

In a sense, around here, much of what you state when asking for assistance is not too dissimilar from the environment in a job interview; it's all about presentation.

So here, you essentially summarized in my mind as the impressionable following:"I suck and failed at this before, LOL totaly!, so like, I need some more talented people then me to give me they're talneted ideas and a program that even an idiot like me, LOL, can use to make a killer realistic war game ftw!"

I'm not saying this is your mentality.What I'm saying is this is, however, unfortunately how you came across.

You talked down about your own skills, gave an example and a link to a self admitted failed project that you see no value in (which means that I have no vested interest in it's value), and then proceeded to ask for potentially my ideas for a game which has little to no goal or direction stated, for you, a person who I have no established reason from you to believe will have the capacity to accomplish designing, programming, and fully developing; furthermore you are asking me to supply you with a program that will microwave the process for you.

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Arrogant or not (and why do you have to go with the "insult an entire nation because of one guy who was basically telling you the truth" card?), you should start at the beginning. And there is a forum for beginners. Or if you are looking to start a team the help wanted section (I suggest reading the FAQ there before posting).

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No, it's not professionals only here. But game ideas aren't a valuable resource around here. Almost everyone has more than enough of them. It's about the skills you need to get something done. And no, there is no magical shortcut like a create-my-dream-game-with-a-few-clicks-tool. Everyone who gets something done around here, beginner or professional, has taken his time to learn an get the skills to do so.

So, if you want someone to be interested more in your ideas than their own you have to show that you have the dedication and skill needed to get something done.

If you don't have the skills to make a big scale game just yet, why not start smaller and work your way up? Like I said, there are no shortcuts. Making games is like any other craft. You have to start small and practice, practice, practice.

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Original post by padlockSorry, didn't realise this was a professionals only group.

Padlock.

This isn't a site for just professional developers, but just because you aren't paid to make games doesn't mean you can't act in a mature and professional manner.

You were offered some great and very true advice. Most people are likely to end up reading your first post as I did. "Meh, some kid that doesn't know anything about development and would run off to chase butterflies two days after I offered to help him." Or something to that effect.

But this shouldn't stop you from trying to go on with your project, but rather help you change how you are approaching it.

Start by laying out, in detail, how your simulator would function. Just how detailed are you making this function? How fine of a simulation is this going? How far in can you 'zoom'? Are you able to look inside the cities themselves? Or are they just icons on a map of Europe? How much of the world are you simulating?

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Total War games are highly moddable (at least they have been until M2, not sure about Empire), and there have been several "realism" mods for each Total War game based on detailed historical research. They push the realism barrier as far as I think it's possible in a video game, not just in battles, but empire management and maintaining historical accuracy during gameplay as well.

You would be very hard-pressed to come up with something more realistic, but if you're up for it, then modding a Total War game would probably be the best way to go about it, especially if you don't feel comfortable with advanced programming.

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Original post by padlockI'm sorry Sir! Arrogance drips from your post but you are American so I will forgive you.

facts

(1) It's not a job interview! LOL! far from it, just looking for like minded people

(2) I'm mostly looking for info on any new engine / development tool that might help me develop what I stated.

If you cannot help with either then .... LOL! (but i'm not trying to be rude! LOL!)

Padlock.

The reason I said it wasn't too dissimilar from a job interview is because the community here is largely cynical when it comes to posts about ambitions to make video games, so the representation of yourself is essential and many times the only credibility that you may retain.

That being said, if you are inexperienced, but looking for something along the hobby lines of what you describe as a "War Simulator", then I would say that Talin has some great advice; modifying an existing game, such as Total War, is an excellent method of getting your balance in a given genre as it involves a method of reverse engineering whereby you will be teaching yourself how exactly the developers put together their game and the reasons why.

It also allows you the opportunity to explore a variety of technical components that were used that you can learn more about to see if those, or related, components are a system you would like to use in the future.

Directly to your question:

Quote:

This game will recreate Ancient life - populations / societies / cultures / warfare etc so the player "feels" they are actually in an ancient period.

I think this order is too large for you to take on by yourself, but there are a variety of methods to approach this desire.

You can do so as a personal experience simulator ("sims" environment) concept, a political and war simulator (like Total War), a society simulator (civilization), or all of the above mixed together based largely off of user population (MMORPG).

I would venture to suggest that this ambition, while great, is best reserved for later, and to start off where Talin suggests and work your way up until you can work on a project as colossal as creating a very large environment where the players "feel they are actually in an ancient period".

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As to Totalwar, I already do modding, see my mod here (half done of course .. I can never finish anything! LOL!) -

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=136142

..But, The engine is too restrictive, politics should be major aspect of Roman life but I could not add it easily to RomeTotalWar. Some modders did achive something better but only after years of dedicated struggle .. a game engine shouldn't be that difficult. That's why i'm asking if there's any 5-6 generation development tools available?

As to Development tools, my question was answered on another thread. Torque looks interesting but I still think it won't do what I want.